durbin: i ask unanimous consent the period of morning business be extended until 4:00 p.m. today, that all provisions of the previous order remain in effect. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. durbin: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. roberts: i ask the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. roberts: let me take a moment to welcome to you the united states senate and i look forward to working with you. welcome to the united states senate. over the christmas holidays much of our nation was foikdz on what congress would do to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. what was large-missing from that conversation was how to address the much greater and more damaging problem, our growing national debt. i'm not exactly sure what the definition of fiscal cliff was. i think it is different meanings to different people. we dealt with a portion of the fiscal cliff. a slight delay in skw